crankbait depth question

[hiker]

I understand that the general idea is to fish a crankbait such that it bounces off the bottom to trigger strikes. I wonder then, if the bottom is 6 ft deep, then I would suppose that I'd need a bait that runs greater than 6ft, because otherwise, it's not going to get to the bottom let alone bounce off of it. Right? So if you're fishing in 6 feet of water, and wanted to catch fish on a crankbait, would you throw a crank designed to run in 6-7feet? 8-12 feet? 10- 20 feet? I assume you'd throw a bait designed to run at water depth + a certain amount, correct?

[jbass]

To reply to your question: If you're 6 feet deep, I would throw a crankbait that would dive 8 to 12 feet. You can control the amount of time the bait contacts the bottom and also how much of the bottom it contacts. If you're fishing 15 feet of water, I would throw a crankbait that would dive to 20 feet. This all hinges on whether the fish are on the bottom. If not, you want to change tactics. If they're suspended, you might try a suspending crankbait at the depth the fish are holding, and don't tell you suspended fish can't be caught, because they can.

[Bassin_Fin@tic]

Sometimes a bait that just barely ticks the bottom is better. I say this because what about bottom debris, muck,algae and vegetation which can gum up the front of the bait. You don't always want it plowing the bottom. realize too that line size can make a bait go deeper or shallower as does rod position and casting distance. In other words if your not quite hitting bottom then make a long cast with the target area in the middle and keep the rod low during the retrieve. If the bottom is rocky and irregular or hard and sandy then by all means use a bait that will over achieve the depth.

[Grey Wolf]

Sometimes a bait that just barely ticks the bottom is better. I say this because what about bottom debris, muck,algae and vegetation which can gum up the front of the bait. You don't always want it plowing the bottom. realize too that line size can make a bait go deeper or shallower as does rod position and casting distance. In other words if your not quite hitting bottom then make a long cast with the target area in the middle and keep the rod low during the retrieve. If the bottom is rocky and irregular or hard and sandy then by all means use a bait that will over achieve the depth.

X2!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

[airborne_angler]

Ive read that depending on the type of lip the bait has,it can actually "roll" when it contacts the bottom and not dredge like its supposed to.

[ww2farmer]

Hitting the bottom is not the most important thing, hitting cover is. When I am fishing 12' fow I rarely use a crank bait that dives more than 6' deep. Why? Because the cover won't allow it. Try cranking a deep diver to the bottom in heavy milfoil, coontail, and eelgrass, insted I run a shallow  diver through it, let it hit the grass and then let it float up and off and start cranking again.  It works OK

[Vinny Chase]

The lakes that i crank in the Minneapolis area are usually full of weeds. I actually like to start out deep and work my way in, so if i am going to fish my DT20 or DD22 i will go out to about 25' water. I then get an idea of how tall the weeds are by throwing a few casts and feeling for the top of the weed line. Once you get a few casts where ur tickin the top of those weeds but no getting hung up is where you are going to get him. Also do not be afraid to stick that rod in the water a few feet to get even farther down if needed.

BTW the weeds around here are usually about 5' tall so i just add that to the depth of the bait.

TO achieve the accurate depth of the bait i would use P-Line CXX or CX 10# test.